| Aramis, or the Love of Technology | |
| Translator: | Catherine Porter |
| Author: | Bruno Latour |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | La Découverte (France) Harvard University Press (US) |
| Release Date: | 1993 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages: | 336 (english translation) |
| Isbn: | 978-0-674-04323-7 |
| Oclc: | 277985319 |
Aramis, or the Love of Technology was written by French sociologist/anthropologist Bruno Latour. Aramis was originally published in French in 1993; the English translation by Catherine Porter, copyrighted in 1996,, is now in its fourth printing (2002). Latour describes his text as "scientifiction," which he describes as "a hybrid genre... for a hybrid task" (p. ix). The genre includes voices of a young engineer discussing his "sociotechnological initiation," his professor's commentary which introduces Actor-network theory (ANT), field documents - including real-life interviews, and the voice of Aramis—a failed technology ([1] p. x).
The book is a quasi-mystery, which attempts to discover who killed Aramis. Aramis was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. Simultaneously, while investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of Actor-network theory. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation.